The Twins' first two intrasquad games of training camp have served as a demonstration of "robot umpires," or balls and strikes called by MLB's in-stadium Trackman radar system. And after getting a look at it, none of the Twins sounded in a hurry to get rid of the humans who are normally behind the plate.
"I don't think the players would like it that much," said Randy Dobnak, who threw four innings worth of pitches Wednesday that were judged by radar. "Baseball is a game of adjustments, so over time, guys would probably adjust to it. But I don't know how long it would take."
A crew of Major League umpires, headed by crew chief and St. Paul native Jeff Nelson, will report to Minneapolis on Friday and undergo coronavirus testing. Once cleared, they could begin working Twins intrasquad games by the beginning of next week, ending the sneak preview of a system that MLB has tested in some minor leagues as it considers the future of umpiring.
"We're just trying it. We're giving the guys a taste of it," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "Instead of a novice umpire strapping on the gear and going back there, or someone standing in the middle of the infield, we figured we'd give it a try."
So until the professionals arrive, the Twins have stationed advance scout Colby Suggs in the front row of seats directly behind home plate, where he relays Trackman's judgment of each pitch — some more controversial than others.
At one point, catcher Alex Avila stood up, pivoted around and threw the ball into the screen in front of Suggs in mock anger. And there were occasional yelps about borderline pitches.
"From my standpoint, it was very awkward. Marwin [Gonzalez], he was complaining about the strike zone, too," Nelson Cruz said, adding with a smile, "Typical Marwin."
The radar's letter-of-the-law zone seems more narrow than umpires call it, players said, but extends a bit higher and lower than they're used to as well. And there is no nuance to it.
